With much gratitude to God, I am happy to announce that my new kuntres, Hal’luhu B’theqa Shofar, is now available in print. It’s the first of two planned sequels to Haggadat Hapesah, and God willing, will be part of a larger collection in a few years. It’s available directly from me for 30 NIS. Advertisements
https://www.yutorah.org/sidebar/lecture.cfm/933884/rabbi-hershel-schachter/hilchos-rosh-hashana/ At the 50 minute mark, he mentions how the common custom was popularized by the Sh’la.
I see it that in the past decade, American pop culture has become obsessed with vampires and zombies and the like. Why is that people use their fertile imaginations for such things? Why do they spend so much time and money on creating all those movies and TV shows? Why should the horror genre be … Continue reading
The commandment of Haqhel, to assemble the entire nation for the reading of the Torah, shows the dangerous fallacy of some popular new stringencies. First, some background regarding another well-known Torah reading, Zachor, from an article I wrote earlier: “It is also a positive commandment to constantly remember their evil deeds and their ambush of … Continue reading
Dovbear has joined an online course to learn about the motivation behind the writing of the Bible. Well, here’s my answer (concerning the true Bible. The Christian version is not of any interest): Our sages said that had the Jews not sinned, the Pentateuch and the book of Joshua, which details who got what part … Continue reading
(My previous post, without the password-protected personal stuff:) Years ago, I used to enjoy listening to the ramblings (or maybe ravings?) of an older member of my yeshiva. Unfortunately, when he wasn’t talking lomdus, he would be spouting the latest propaganda from the Yated. That day, he was decrying “science” as being at odds with … Continue reading
Numbers 6:13-14: This is the law of the nazirite: On the day the term of his nazirite vow is completed, he shall present himself at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He shall bring his offering to the Lord: one unblemished lamb in its first year as a burnt offering, one unblemished ewe lamb … Continue reading
It’s time to add two more halachic fallacies to our ongoing list. Remember, ideally, these types of arguments should not be made when trying to arrive at the true halacha. 1. Lagur Mip’nei Ish (Fearing a Man): Moses himself instructed the judges he appointed to “fear no man” (Deuteronomy 1:17), and this rule is based … Continue reading
Recently, an article by Professor Aaron Koller made the rounds. I sort of agree with him on one point: The Torah is in conflict with what he terms “humanity,” but it should more accurately be termed “the evil inclination.” His conclusion, though is entirely misguided. The Torah needs to be followed in order for us … Continue reading
